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Jon Hamm: Kim Kardashian comments 'not personal,' but not wrong

March 14, 2012 | 11:12
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As the Jon Hamm-Kim Kardashian "feud" goes on -- and we use that term very lightly -- we can be sure that one thing the "Mad Men" star said is true: "Stupidity is certainly celebrated." And we're apparently in the middle of a party.

"It's surprising to me that it has become remotely a story," Hamm told E! News. "I don't know Ms. Kardashian, I know her public persona."

"I would never say anything personal about anyone that I have not met," the actor told "Access Hollywood" on Tuesday night, saying that his remarks had been taken out of context.

That's not Hamm's only opinion on not-so-nice things Hollywood types profit from. "This industry is populated by a lot of narcissistic, mean-spirited, horrible people who get rewarded for being narcissistic, mean-spirited and horrible," he told Playboy in an interview for its April issue.

(Shoot -- stupid is starting to look like a compliment.)

Parse the Kardashian comment and the defense Hamm presented to E! makes some sense: "What I said was meant to be more on pervasiveness of something in our culture, not personal, but she took offense to it and that is her right."

Kardashian on Monday had noted that although she did not know Hamm, she respected him and believed he was entitled to his opinion. However, she said: "Calling someone who runs their own businesses, is a part of a successful TV show, produces, writes, designs, and creates, 'stupid,' is in my opinion careless."

So who's stupid now? There are so many choices:

Was it Hamm, for invoking gossip hot-buttons like Kardashian and Paris Hilton? Or Kardashian for taking time to take offense? Or folks in the media for noticing Hamm's Elle UK quote in the flood of "Mad Men" press and putting it under a microscope with little context?

Hamm, whose series starts up again March 25, would choose the latter. "I said what I said" about the phenomenon of reality TV, he told "Access Hollywood," and he stands by it. "I just wish it would have been reported correctly."

Meanwhile, Paris Hilton is actually looking pretty smart in all this, for going happily on with her Twitter life and not saying a thing.

Hamm is, however, playing it very smart in one area: He tells Playboy "it's been awhile" since he's had sex outside.

"In the era of TMZ, I don’t think outdoor sex is a particularly good idea. It's one of those things that sound way better than they actually are. There's something not sexy about all the twigs and bugs and sand. You end up with stuff in places you don’t want it."